K Cooks at Flour + Water

Checking out the set up, pre class.

Well, sort of. As you may know, Flour + Water is a James Beard nominated restaurant here in San Francisco: a finalist in 2010 for Best New Restaurant and in 2011 for Rising Star Chef. I'm a big fan of their pastas, even though I don't eat there often enough. 

Last weekend, a tweet appeared in my time line that sounded just about perfect for K: 

@ SproutsCooking  Join us & @flourandwater in Sprouts' Celebrity Chef Series! 11/30 5-7pm We're making macaroni and cheese from scratch! sproutscookingclub.org/current-classe…

 

Sprouts Cooking is, according to their mission statement, an organization that: "strives to teach Bay-Area children of all socio-economic backgrounds how to cook, hands-on, with real chefs, using real ingredients, in real restaurants whenever possible. We keep cooking real." They have classes, a garden, run a summer camp that may be in K's future, and more. Take a look at this article from the Bay Citizen/NY Times for more info.  

 

Today was class day. We packed up K's "kit": grater, knife, peeler, kitchen rag, water bottle and Tupperware (in case of leftovers )and drove over to Flour + Water. Once there, I checked K in and left, wishing I could stay for the class. I will admit that I, and I would guess many of the other parents, spent the class time hoping for leftovers. 

The table, pre-class

K's report on the class:

"We went upstairs and then we put our stuff down and Mama left. After all the kids got there, we stood around the table and introduced ourselves. Then the teacher showed us how to make dough for the pasta we would be making. The dough had about 20 or 25 eggs. Then we worked some of the dough. That means you knead it. Then we wrapped the dough up in plastic wrap and got to use some other dough that was already prepared. 

We got to split it up and roll it out on the metal pasta roller. The handle kept falling off. Then we cut the pieces we rolled out into 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch squares and then we wrapped them diagonally around a wooden stick. Then we got to grate the cheese and wash the broccoli. 

Then the craziness started. We made pasta with up to 32 layers, stacked on each other. Really thin ones, really small ones, anything you could think of. And then the teacher put it in the pan with a sauce made out of cheese and milk and the broccoli. Then it cooked, while we kept making more crazy shapes until there was no dough left. We also got to meet a pig. He was black and a pet. Then the parents came and we got soda and mac and cheese. Mama had some of my soda. And then we went home and Mama ate the leftover mac and cheese.

I liked rolling out the dough and meeting the other kids. I would like to take more of their classes."

Time to eat.

The chef with her leftovers and soda.

My much anticipated dinner.